LIKE most Filipino-Americans, White House executive chef Cristeta Pasia Comerford, 46, always keeps a bottle of patis (fish sauce) handy in her suburban Maryland home. She credits the favorite Pinoy seasoning for keeping her adobo and other home-cooked Filipino dishes flavorful and authentic.

Even daughter Danielle, 8, often uses patis as her sawsawan (table seasoning) during meals.

This early, the third grader has already shown interest in cooking. In a recent “show and tell” in school, for instance, she brought with her pre-cooked rice, egg and sautéed corned beef flavored with, yes, a dash of patis.

“She cooked it herself,” said the proud mother.

That leaves American husband John, also a chef, in the minority. He doesn’t hide his dislike for patis as staple on the Comerfords’ dinner table, but can take it as cooking ingredient.

“As long as it’s mixed with adobo or sinigang during cooking, I’m fine,” he said.

Comerford insisted she doesn’t keep a bottle of patis in her basement kitchen at the White House. Still, there are certain cooking habits passed down by her mother, now 82 and living in Chicago, that die hard.

“As a Pinoy, you tend to overdo things,” she said. “Whenever there’s a chance, for example, to add extra onions or garlic, you don’t hesitate to do it, which makes for a better-tasting meal.”

And thanks to the White House’s famous organic vegetable patch on the South Lawn, she has easy access to okras, eggplants, tomatoes, spinach, string beans and whatever vegetables are in season.

“The Obamas are into healthy eating and enjoy simple, well-made meals,” she said. “They have certain preferences like steamed vegetables and brown rice that you’d want to do a lot.”

Break

Taking advantage of her famous clients’ summer vacation in Martha’s Vineyard, Comerford, upon the invitation of Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), took a break from her White House duties and recently flew to Manila with John on a week-long visit.

As one of this year’s BPInoy awardees, Comerford gladly dropped everything to receive a well-deserved recognition given by BPI to outstanding Filipinos based abroad.

Apart from encouraging nationalism among Filipinos, the annual award, now on its fourth year and comes with a P100,000 cash prize to be donated to the honoree’s favorite charity, is part of BPI’s commitment to excellence as it serves a growing number of overseas Filipino workers.

Other awardees are HK-based economist Eli Remolona and modernist painter Anita Magsaysay-Ho. They now join the ranks of past BPInoy awardees such as Lea Salonga, Josie Natori, Monique Lhuillier, Dado Banatao, Jorge Garcia and Rico Hizon.

“The last time I was here was six years ago to attend a high-school reunion,” Comerford, a product of the country’s public school system, said. “This is a special trip, as it marks the first time since I became White House executive chef. It’s also John’s first trip to the Philippines.”

Comerford, the 10th in a brood of 11, pursued a degree in food technology at the University of the Philippines before immigrating with her family to the US in the mid ’80s. She trained for almost a year as chef in Vienna before working for various fine-dining restaurants in the US.

“I’ve always been interested in cooking,” she said. “As a young girl, I would often hang out in our kitchen in Manila to watch my mother cook. It didn’t take long before I started volunteering to do the family meals.”

Hands-on

In 1995, then White House executive chef Walter Scheib recruited her as one of his assistants. When Scheib left in 2005, then First Lady Laura Bush appointed Comerford to the position, making her the first woman, first Filipino and first minority to assume the top post.

Amid speculations that the Obamas would replace Comerford with a more high-profile celebrity chef once they moved into the White House, First Lady Michelle Obama did the opposite by retaining her and her six-person team.

Comerford has three assistant or sous chefs working directly under her. On top of her executive duties, she remains hands-on.

Ms Obama appreciated the fact that Comerford, like her, was also a mother raising a young daughter. “I appreciate our shared perspective on the importance of healthy eating and healthy families,” she reportedly said.

The Comerfords would have loved to bring their daughter along, but figured they didn’t have enough time as a family to fully savor the trip.

The couple plans to make a day trip to Subic with a family friend and do some shopping and dining. Comerford even asked journalists where she could get a good Manny Pacquiao T-shirt, one of the items on her friends’ wish list back home.

“One of the first things I did as soon as John and I were settled in our hotel was to troop to The Landmark,” she said. “I headed straight to the fruits section to buy some atis and lanzones. Even if they sometimes have imported lanzones in the States, they’re not as good as the ones you have here.”

Modest

Up close, the woman responsible for conceptualizing menus and preparing America’s first family’s daily meals as well as those during official state functions is modest, soft-spoken and circumspect to a fault.

Comerford would rather remain vague about her famous and powerful employers’ eating habits.

“She’s a very busy woman with lots of things to attend to,” Comerford said of the First Lady. “She’s a hands-on person, but she’s not a micro manager. She knows how to delegate.”

Comerford also describes the Obamas as “warm” people. They don’t have to say thank you since she and her team are simply doing their jobs, but they would often drop by the kitchen to express their appreciation.

No maid

As for her own schedule, Comerford, who, unlike perhaps most of her colleagues here in the Philippines, doesn’t have a maid, is often out of the house by 5 a.m.

She uses the one-hour drive to the White House as “me” time to plan her entire day. If the Obamas have no state dinners or late-night guests to attend to, she’s usually home before 7 p.m. in time for dinner.

Weekends, she said, are sacred. But before she hies off, she makes sure an assistant is left manning the post.

For state dinners and other official functions, she coordinates directly with White House social secretary Desiree Rogers weeks, sometimes months in advance.

Because of her killer schedule, she doesn’t cook for the family as often as she used to. But during the rare times she does, Comerford makes sure such extras as a clove of garlic and a helping of patis are within easy reach.